Migration of network traffic between licensed and unlicensed spectrum

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure is directed to migrating network traffic from a licensed spectrum to an unlicensed spectrum within the same radio access technology (RAT). In one aspect, a method includes identifying a user device connected to a cellular wireless access technology, over a licensed spectrum; determining whether a condition for switching network traffic associated with the user device to an unlicensed spectrum is triggered; in response to determining that the condition is triggered, determining an unlicensed spectrum to move the network traffic to, the unlicensed spectrum being within a same cell as the licensed spectrum or in a different cell compared to a cell in which the licensed spectrum is; and migrating at least a portion of the network traffic to the unlicensed spectrum while maintaining network connectivity of the user device over the cellular wireless access technology.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The subject matter of this disclosure relates in general to the field ofcomputer networking, and more particularly, to migrating user devicetraffic, applications traffic, user device traffic bound to certainnetwork slices, or user device traffic in certain cell locations betweena licensed spectrum and an unlicensed spectrum within the same radioaccess technology (RAT).

BACKGROUND

Radio spectrum can be categorized into two types, a licensed spectrumand an unlicensed spectrum. A licensed spectrum is assigned exclusivelyto network operators for independent usage. As follows, licensedspectrum devices operate within the portion of the radio spectrumdesignated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to be servedfor organizations that have been granted licenses. With exclusiverights, a license holder operates without interference in transmission.An unlicensed spectrum is assigned to every citizen for non-exclusiveusage subject to some regulatory constraints. As follows, networkoperators can deploy cellular networks with more flexibility to manageinterference.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to describe the manner in which the above-recited and otheradvantages and features of the disclosure can be obtained, a moreparticular description of the principles briefly described above will berendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which areillustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawingsdepict only exemplary embodiments of the disclosure and are not,therefore, to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the principlesherein are described and explained with additional specificity anddetail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1A illustrates an example cloud computing architecture;

FIG. 1B illustrates an example fog computing architecture

FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary schematic representation of a 5G networkenvironment in which network slicing has been implemented, and in whichone or more aspects of the present disclosure may operate;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example 5G network architecture with thedeployment of two network slices according to some aspects of thepresent disclosure;

FIGS. 4A-4D illustrate an example flow of migrating network traffic froma network slice operating in a licensed spectrum to a network sliceoperating in an unlicensed spectrum, according to some aspects of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example 5G network architecture with thedeployment of a single network slice, according to some aspects of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example flow of migrating network traffic from alicensed spectrum to an unlicensed spectrum within the same networkslice, according to some aspects of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example flow of reverting network traffic from anunlicensed spectrum to a licensed spectrum, according to some aspects ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates a flow chart for an example method of migratingnetwork traffic from a licensed spectrum to an unlicensed spectrum,according to some aspects of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 shows an example computing system, which can be for example anycomputing device that can implement components of the system; AND

FIG. 10 illustrates an example network device, according to some aspectsof the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of the disclosure are discussed in detail below.While specific implementations are discussed, it should be understoodthat this is done for illustration purposes only. A person skilled inthe relevant art will recognize that other components and configurationsmay be used without parting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.Thus, the following description and drawings are illustrative and arenot to be construed as limiting. Numerous specific details are describedto provide a thorough understanding of the disclosure. However, incertain instances, well-known or conventional details are not describedin order to avoid obscuring the description. References to one or anembodiment in the present disclosure can be references to the sameembodiment or any embodiment; and, such references mean at least one ofthe embodiments.

Reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the disclosure. Theappearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in thespecification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment,nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of otherembodiments. Moreover, various features are described which may beexhibited by some embodiments and not by others.

The terms used in this specification generally have their ordinarymeanings in the art, within the context of the disclosure, and in thespecific context where each term is used. Alternative language andsynonyms may be used for any one or more of the terms discussed herein,and no special significance should be placed upon whether or not a termis elaborated or discussed herein. In some cases, synonyms for certainterms are provided. A recital of one or more synonyms does not excludethe use of other synonyms. The use of examples anywhere in thisspecification including examples of any terms discussed herein isillustrative only, and is not intended to further limit the scope andmeaning of the disclosure or of any example term. Likewise, thedisclosure is not limited to various embodiments given in thisspecification.

Without intent to limit the scope of the disclosure, examples ofinstruments, apparatus, methods and their related results according tothe embodiments of the present disclosure are given below. Note thattitles or subtitles may be used in the examples for convenience of areader, which in no way should limit the scope of the disclosure. Unlessotherwise defined, technical and scientific terms used herein have themeaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art towhich this disclosure pertains. In the case of conflict, the presentdocument, including definitions will control.

Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be set forthin the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from thedescription, or can be learned by practice of the herein disclosedprinciples. The features and advantages of the disclosure can berealized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinationsparticularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and otherfeatures of the disclosure will become more fully apparent from thefollowing description and appended claims or can be learned by thepractice of the principles set forth herein.

Overview

Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and computer-readable media formigrating network data traffic (network traffic) between a licensedspectrum and an unlicensed spectrum within the same radio accesstechnology.

In one aspect, a method includes identifying a user device connected toa cellular wireless access technology, over a licensed spectrum;determining whether a condition for switching network traffic associatedwith the user device to an unlicensed spectrum is triggered; in responseto determining that the condition is triggered, determining anunlicensed spectrum to move the network traffic to, the unlicensedspectrum being within a same cell as the licensed spectrum or in adifferent cell compared to a cell in which the licensed spectrum is; andmigrating at least a portion of the network traffic to the unlicensedspectrum while maintaining network connectivity of the user device overthe cellular wireless access technology.

In another aspect, the condition is a schedule of routing of networktraffic of the user device between the licensed spectrum and theunlicensed spectrum, and the network traffic is migrated to theunlicensed spectrum according to the schedule.

In another aspect, the condition is a capacity threshold of the licensedspectrum, and the network traffic is migrated to the unlicensed spectrumif the capacity threshold of the licensed spectrum is reached.

In another aspect, the method further includes receiving, from a networkelement, a usage report that includes a volume of the network traffic ofthe user device to compare to the capacity threshold.

In another aspect, the method further includes modifying a UserEquipment Route Selection Policy (URSP) to migrate the portion of thenetwork traffic to the unlicensed spectrum.

In another aspect, the method further includes determining whether asecond condition for switching the network traffic back to the licensedspectrum is met; and migrating the portion of the network traffic backto the licensed spectrum from the unlicensed spectrum.

In another aspect, the method further includes transmitting a RadioResource Control (RRC) connection reconfiguration message to the userdevice to migrate the portion of the network traffic to the unlicensedspectrum.

In one aspect, a network controller includes one or more memories havingcomputer-readable instructions stored therein; and one or moreprocessors. The one or more processors are configured to execute thecomputer-readable instructions to identify a user device connected to acellular wireless access technology, over a licensed spectrum; determinewhether a condition for switching network traffic associated with theuser device to an unlicensed spectrum is triggered; in response todetermining that the condition is triggered, determine an unlicensedspectrum to move the network traffic to, the unlicensed spectrum beingwithin a same cell as the licensed spectrum or in a different cellcompared to a cell in which the licensed spectrum is; and migrate atleast a portion of the network traffic to the unlicensed spectrum whilemaintaining network connectivity of the user device over the cellularwireless access technology.

In one aspect, one or more non-transitory computer-readable mediainclude computer-readable instructions, which when executed by one ormore processors of a network controller, cause the network controller toidentify a user device connected to a cellular wireless accesstechnology, over a licensed spectrum; determine whether a condition forswitching network traffic associated with the user device to anunlicensed spectrum is triggered; in response to determining that thecondition is triggered, determine an unlicensed spectrum to move thenetwork traffic to, the unlicensed spectrum being within a same cell asthe licensed spectrum or in a different cell compared to a cell in whichthe licensed spectrum is; and migrate at least a portion of the networktraffic to the unlicensed spectrum while maintaining networkconnectivity of the user device over the cellular wireless accesstechnology.

Description of Example Embodiments

The following acronyms are used throughout the present disclosure,provided below for convenience.

-   -   AMF: Access and Mobility Management Function    -   BNG: Broadband Network Gateway    -   MBR: Modify Bearer Request    -   NF: Network Function    -   NRF: Network Repository Function    -   PCF: Policy Control Function    -   PDU: Protocol Data Unit    -   RAN: Radio Access Network    -   RAT: Radio Access Technology    -   RRC: Radio Resource Control    -   SMF: Session Management Function    -   UDM: Unified Data Management    -   UPF: User Plane Function    -   USRP: UE Route Selection Policy

Bandwidth refers to a measure of a bit rate of data communicationresources, expressed in a number of bits communicated per unit time.Bandwidth throttling is a technique of reducing the speed at which datais communicated, which can be activated to limit network congestion incase of overcapacity either in a RAN or in a core network. Also,bandwidth throttling can be activated when subscriber usage exceeds aquota. Existing bandwidth throttling approaches utilize activatingtraffic-shaping rules on user plane functions such as UPF, and BNG. Thenet effect of bandwidth throttling results in creating two datapipelines, a fast lane and a slow lane. As a result, there can be someperformance cost on the user plane function enforcing the artificialslow path rules. Further, these approaches can result in bad userexperience for every subscriber using the application chosen forthrottling. Therefore, there exists a need for an alternative approachto currently available bandwidth throttling techniques that can improvenetwork traffic and congestion.

As previously described, there are two types of radio spectrums: alicensed spectrum and an unlicensed spectrum. With the increasedavailability of unlicensed spectrum, network operators can deployunlicensed spectrum as part of 3GPP access. As follows, a networkoperator can deploy both licensed spectrum and unlicensed spectrum. Forexample, a network operator can deploy a network slice in a celloperating in a licensed spectrum and the same network slice in anothercell operating in an unlicensed spectrum. In another example, in a givencell, a network operator can operate a network slice in both licensedand unlicensed spectrums. Currently, offloading network traffic tounlicensed non-3GPP access at a RAT level is available. However, theexisting approaches do not offer the mechanics of managing networktraffic offloading between licensed and unlicensed spectrums within 3GPPaccess in view of enhancements to network slicing and the envisioned newslice configurations.

Therefore, there exists a need for migrating network data trafficbetween a licensed spectrum and an unlicensed spectrum within the sameRAT. The present technology includes systems, methods, andcomputer-readable media for solving the foregoing problems anddiscrepancies, among others. In some examples, systems, methods, andcomputer-readable media are provided for migrating users, applications,users bound to certain network slices, or users in certain celllocations between a licensed spectrum and an unlicensed spectrum withinthe same RAT. Further, the proposed solution relates to network traffic(e.g., back to the licensed spectrum) as the network traffic improves.

In particular, the proposed solution can (1) migrate a session, a groupof sessions, and certain applications from a licensed spectrum to anunlicensed spectrum (or vice versa) within the same network slice, (2)move a user between a cell supporting a given network slice in alicensed spectrum to another cell supporting the same network slice inan unlicensed spectrum, and (3) bind such migration with variouscapacity threshold triggers.

FIG. 1A illustrates a diagram of an example cloud computing architecture100. The architecture can include a cloud 102. The cloud 102 can includeone or more private clouds, public clouds, and/or hybrid clouds.Moreover, the cloud 102 can include cloud elements 104-114. The cloudelements 104-114 can include, for example, servers 104, virtual machines(VMs) 106, one or more software platforms 108, applications or services110, software containers 112, and infrastructure nodes 114. Theinfrastructure nodes 114 can include various types of nodes, such ascompute nodes, storage nodes, network nodes, management systems, etc.

The cloud 102 can provide various cloud computing services via the cloudelements 104-114, such as software as a service (SaagatewayS) (e.g.,collaboration services, email services, enterprise resource planningservices, content services, communication services, etc.),infrastructure as a service (IaaS) (e.g., security services, networkingservices, systems management services, etc.), platform as a service(PaaS) (e.g., web services, streaming services, application developmentservices, etc.), and other types of services such as desktop as aservice (DaaS), information technology management as a service (ITaaS),managed software as a service (MSaaS), mobile backend as a service(MBaaS), etc.

The client endpoints 116 can connect with the cloud 102 to obtain one ormore specific services from the cloud 102. The client endpoints 116 cancommunicate with elements 104-114 via one or more public networks (e.g.,Internet), private networks, and/or hybrid networks (e.g., virtualprivate network). The client endpoints 116 can include any device withnetworking capabilities, such as a laptop computer, a tablet computer, aserver, a desktop computer, a smartphone, a network device (e.g., anaccess point, a router, a switch, etc.), a smart television, a smartcar, a sensor, a GPS device, a game system, a smart wearable object(e.g., smartwatch, etc.), a consumer object (e.g., Internetrefrigerator, smart lighting system, etc.), a city or transportationsystem (e.g., traffic control, toll collection system, etc.), aninternet of things (IoT) device, a camera, a network printer, atransportation system (e.g., train, motorcycle, boat, etc.), or anysmart or connected object (e.g., smart home, smart building, smartretail, smart glasses, etc.), and so forth.

The client endpoints 116 can communicate with the elements 104-114 aspart of accessing network services through infrastructure intermediationmessaging. Specifically, communications between the elements 104-114 andthe client endpoints 116 can be managed and otherwise controlled througha network infrastructure between the client endpoints 116 and the cloud102. For example, any of a 5G infrastructure, an LTE infrastructure anda Wi-Fi infrastructure can communicate a physical location of a clientendpoint to a cloud service. In turn, the cloud service can cause theinfrastructure to send specific signaling to the client endpoint foraccessing network services through the cloud service. For example, thecloud service can use the LTE infrastructure, e.g. through an LTE S14interface, to alert the client endpoint of Wi-Fi availability throughthe Wi-Fi infrastructure. In another example, the cloud service can usethe Wi-Fi infrastructure, e.g. through MBO Wi-Fi messaging, to alert theclient endpoint of LTE availability through the LTE infrastructure.

FIG. 1B illustrates a diagram of an example fog computing architecture150. The fog computing architecture 150 can include the cloud layer 154,which includes the cloud 102 and any other cloud system or environment,and the fog layer 156, which includes fog nodes 162. The clientendpoints 116 can communicate with the cloud layer 154 and/or the foglayer 156. The architecture 150 can include one or more communicationlinks 152 between the cloud layer 154, the fog layer 156, and the clientendpoints 116. Communications can flow up to the cloud layer 154 and/ordown to the client endpoints 116.

The fog layer 156 or “the fog” provides the computation, storage andnetworking capabilities of traditional cloud networks, but closer to theendpoints. The fog can thus extend the cloud 102 to be closer to theclient endpoints 116. The fog nodes 162 can be the physicalimplementation of fog networks. Moreover, the fog nodes 162 can providelocal or regional services and/or connectivity to the client endpoints116. As a result, traffic and/or data can be offloaded from the cloud102 to the fog layer 156 (e.g., via fog nodes 162). The fog layer 156can thus provide faster services and/or connectivity to the clientendpoints 116, with lower latency, as well as other advantages such assecurity benefits from keeping the data inside the local or regionalnetwork(s).

The fog nodes 162 can include any networked computing devices, such asservers, switches, routers, controllers, cameras, access points,gateways, etc. Moreover, the fog nodes 162 can be deployed anywhere witha network connection, such as a factory floor, a power pole, alongside arailway track, in a vehicle, on an oil rig, in an airport, in a shoppingcenter, in a hospital, in a park, in a parking garage, in a library,etc.

In some configurations, one or more fog nodes 162 can be deployed withinfog instances 158, 160. The fog instances 158, 160 can be local orregional clouds or networks. For example, the fog instances 158, 160 canbe a regional cloud or data center, a local area network, a network offog nodes 162, etc. In some configurations, one or more fog nodes 162can be deployed within a network, or as standalone or individual nodes,for example. Moreover, one or more of the fog nodes 162 can beinterconnected with each other via links 164 in various topologies,including star, ring, mesh or hierarchical arrangements, for example.

In some cases, one or more fog nodes 162 can be mobile fog nodes. Themobile fog nodes can move to different geographic locations, logicallocations or networks, and/or fog instances while maintainingconnectivity with the cloud layer 154 and/or the endpoints 116. Forexample, a particular fog node can be placed in a vehicle, such as atrain, which can travel from one geographic location and/or logicallocation to a different geographic location and/or logical location. Inthis example, the particular fog node may connect to a particularphysical and/or logical connection point with the cloud 154 whilelocated at the starting location and switch to a different physicaland/or logical connection point with the cloud 154 while located at thedestination location. The particular fog node can thus move withinparticular clouds and/or fog instances and, therefore, serve endpointsfrom different locations at different times.

FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary schematic representation of a 5G networkenvironment 200 in which network slicing has been implemented, and inwhich one or more aspects of the present disclosure may operate. Asillustrated, network environment 200 is divided into four domains, eachof which will be explained in greater depth below; a User Equipment (UE)domain 210, e.g. of one or more enterprise, in which a plurality of usercellphones or other connected devices 212 reside; a Radio Access Network(RAN) domain 220, in which a plurality of radio cells, base stations,towers, or other radio infrastructure 222 resides; a Core Network 230,in which a plurality of Network Functions (NFs) 232, 234, . . . , nreside; and a Data Network 240, in which one or more data communicationnetworks such as the Internet 242 reside. Additionally, the Data Network240 can support SaaS providers configured to provide SaaSs toenterprises, e.g. to users in the UE domain 210.

Core Network 230 contains a plurality of Network Functions (NFs), shownhere as NF 232, NF 234 . . . NF n. In some embodiments, core network 230is a 5G core network (5GC) in accordance with one or more accepted 5GCarchitectures or designs. In some embodiments, core network 230 is anEvolved Packet Core (EPC) network, which combines aspects of the 5GCwith existing 4G networks. Regardless of the particular design of corenetwork 230, the plurality of NFs typically executes in a control planeof core network 230, providing a service based architecture in which agiven NF allows any other authorized NFs to access its services. Forexample, a Session Management Function (SMF) controls sessionestablishment, modification, release, etc., and in the course of doingso, provides other NFs with access to these constituent SMF services.

In some embodiments, the plurality of NFs of core network 230 caninclude one or more Access and Mobility Management Functions (AMF;typically used when core network 230 is a 5GC network) and MobilityManagement Entities (MME; typically used when core network 230 is an EPCnetwork), collectively referred to herein as an AMF/MME for purposes ofsimplicity and clarity. In some embodiments, an AMF/MME can be common toor otherwise shared by multiple slices of the plurality of networkslices 252, and in some embodiments an AMF/MME can be unique to a singleone of the plurality of network slices 252.

The same is true of the remaining NFs of core network 230, which can beshared amongst one or more network slices or provided as a uniqueinstance specific to a single one of the plurality of network slices252. In addition to NFs comprising an AMF/MME as discussed above, theplurality of NFs of the core network 230 can additionally include one ormore of the following: User Plane Functions (UPFs); Policy ControlFunctions (PCFs); Authentication Server Functions (AUSFs); Unified DataManagement functions (UDMs); Application Functions (AFs); NetworkExposure Functions (NEFs); NF Repository Functions (NRFs); and NetworkSlice Selection Functions (NSSFs). Various other NFs can be providedwithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure, as would beappreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art.

Across these four domains of the 5G network environment 200, an overalloperator network domain 250 is defined. The operator network domain 250is in some embodiments a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), and can bethought of as the carrier or business entity that provides cellularservice to the end users in UE domain 210. Within the operator networkdomain 250, a plurality of network slices 252 are created, defined, orotherwise provisioned in order to deliver a desired set of definedfeatures and functionalities, e.g. SaaSs, for a certain use case orcorresponding to other requirements or specifications. Note that networkslicing for the plurality of network slices 252 is implemented inend-to-end fashion, spanning multiple disparate technical andadministrative domains, including management and orchestration planes(not shown). In other words, network slicing is performed from at leastthe enterprise or subscriber edge at UE domain 210, through the RAN 220,through the 5G access edge and the 5G core network 230, and to the datanetwork 240. Moreover, note that this network slicing may span multipledifferent 5G providers.

For example, as shown here, the plurality of network slices 252 includeSlice 1, which corresponds to smartphone subscribers of the 5G providerwho also operates network domain, and Slice 2, which corresponds tosmartphone subscribers of a virtual 5G provider leasing capacity fromthe actual operator of network domain 250. Also shown is Slice 3, whichcan be provided for a fleet of connected vehicles, and Slice 4, whichcan be provided for an IoT goods or container tracking system across afactory network or supply chain. Note that these network slices 252 areprovided for purposes of illustration, and in accordance with thepresent disclosure, and the operator network domain 250 can implementany number of network slices as needed, and can implement these networkslices for purposes, use cases, or subsets of users and user equipmentin addition to those listed above. Specifically, the operator networkdomain 250 can implement any number of network slices for provisioningSaaSs from SaaS providers to one or more enterprises.

5G mobile and wireless networks will provide enhanced mobile broadbandcommunications and are intended to deliver a wider range of services andapplications as compared to all prior generation mobile and wirelessnetworks. Compared to prior generations of mobile and wireless networks,the 5G architecture is service based, meaning that wherever suitable,architecture elements are defined as network functions that offer theirservices to other network functions via common framework interfaces. Inorder to support this wide range of services and network functionsacross an ever-growing base of user equipment (UE), 5G networksincorporate the network slicing concept utilized in previous generationarchitectures.

Within the scope of the 5G mobile and wireless network architecture, anetwork slice comprises a set of defined features and functionalitiesthat together form a complete Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) forproviding services to UEs. This network slicing permits for thecontrolled composition of a PLMN with the specific network functions andprovided services that are required for a specific usage scenario. Inother words, network slicing enables a 5G network operator to deploymultiple, independent PLMNs where each is customized by instantiatingonly those features, capabilities and services required to satisfy agiven subset of the UEs or a related business customer needs.

In particular, network slicing is expected to play a critical role in 5Gnetworks because of the multitude of use cases and new services 5G iscapable of supporting. Network service provisioning through networkslices is typically initiated when an enterprise requests network sliceswhen registering with AMF/MME for a 5G network. At the time ofregistration, the enterprise will typically ask the AMF/MME forcharacteristics of network slices, such as slice bandwidth, slicelatency, processing power, and slice resiliency associated with thenetwork slices. These network slice characteristics can be used inensuring that assigned network slices are capable of actuallyprovisioning specific services, e.g. based on requirements of theservices, to the enterprise.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example 5G network architecture 300 with thedeployment of two network slices according to some aspects of thepresent disclosure. Example 5G network architecture 300 comprises UE302, RAN 304, a first slice 330A operating in a licensed spectrum and asecond slice 330B operating in an unlicensed spectrum, and Internet 320.Further, a cellular network with RAN 304 comprises a plurality ofnetwork functions such as AMF 306, UE-PCF 308, SM-PCF 310, NS-ACF 312,and UDM 314. Each of the first slice 330A operating in the licensedspectrum and the second slice 330B operating in the unlicensed spectrumcomprises multiple network functions such as SMF 332A, UPF 334A, PCF336A, NRF 338A in the first slice 330A and SMF 332B, UPF 334B, PCF 336B,and NRF 338B in the second slice 330B.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the operator network domain 250 that providescellular service to end-users in UE domain 210 (e.g., UE 302 asillustrated in FIG. 3 ) can deploy a plurality of slices, Slice 1, Slice2, Slice 3, and Slice 4 (e.g., first slice 330A and second slice 330B asillustrated in FIG. 2 ) where the network slicing can be performed fromat least the enterprise or subscriber edge at UE domain 210, through RAN220 (e.g., RAN 304 as illustrated in FIG. 3 ), through the 5G accessedge and 5G core network 230, and to the network 240 (e.g., Internet 320as illustrated in FIG. 3 ).

In some examples, RAN 304 can support both the first cell operating inthe licensed spectrum (e.g., 1800 MHz) and the second cell operating inthe unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 3.5 GHz). For example, a network operatorcan deploy two network slices, first slice 330A (e.g., Internet-L) andsecond slice 330B (e.g., Internet-UL), for the same service. Morespecifically, a network operator can have two cells, one is a licensedcell (e.g., cell-L) and another an unlicensed cell (e.g., cell-UL). Asfollows, first slice 330A (e.g., Internet-L) can be attached to thelicensed cell (e.g., cell-L) and second slice 330B (e.g., Internet-UL)can be attached to the unlicensed cell (e.g., cell-UL). Any time thenetwork operator throttles its service, the network operator can changethe URSP for a user device and all (or a portion of) traffic can bedirected to the unlicensed slice (i.e., unlicensed cell). As thisapproach results in changing the network slice, there can be PDU impact(i.e., session continuity).

In some examples, network data traffic that is transmitted to thelicensed spectrum (i.e., first cell 330A) can be moved/migrated to theunlicensed spectrum (i.e., second cell 330B), which can be activated byvarious triggers. According to some examples, migration of the networktraffic can be initiated by various triggers. Examples of triggers caninclude, but are not limited to, the following conditions: (1) asubscriber has exceeded its quota or violated fair usage policy (FUP);(2) RAN is experiencing a heavy load on a licensed spectrum; (3) thenetwork slice in operation has hit the maximum per-slice-MBR threshold;(4) a given subscriber has hit a per-UE-per-slice-MBR threshold; (5) agiven subscriber has hit a per-slice PDU Session Count limit; and (6)User Plane hits maximum forwarding capacity limits.

FIGS. 4A-4D illustrate an example flow 400 of migrating network trafficfrom a network slice operating in a licensed spectrum to a network sliceoperating in an unlicensed spectrum according to some aspects of thepresent disclosure. Similar to example 5G network architecture 300 asillustrated in FIG. 3 , network environment for example flow 400 inFIGS. 4A-4D comprises UE 302, gNodeB (i.e., RAN) 304, AMF 306, SMF 332Aof the licensed spectrum, UPF 334A of the licensed spectrum, SMF 332B ofthe unlicensed spectrum, UPF 334B of the unlicensed spectrum, UE-PCF308, SM-PCF 310, NS-ACF 312, and UDM 314.

FIG. 4A, in particular, illustrates the process of UE registration andthe first example of a trigger (Trigger 1) for the migration of networktraffic. According to some examples, at step 402, a network operator canhave gNodeB 304 that supports both a first cell operating in a licensedspectrum on F1 radio frequency and a second cell operating in anunlicensed spectrum on F2 radiofrequency.

At step 404, UE 302 starts an application, which then according to aURSP associated with the application, can select a network celloperating in a licensed spectrum. As follows, at step 406, UE 302connects to the network cell operating in the licensed spectrum on F1radiofrequency.

At step 408, UE registration is completed between UE 302 and AMF 306. Atstep 410, AMF 306 and UDM 314 confirm the subscription of UE 302 andprocess authentication of UE 302. At step 412, UE 302 sends a request toestablish a PDU Session to AMF 306 via gNodeB 304, which then sends aPDU Session response to UE 402.

In some examples, the migration of network traffic from a licensedspectrum to an unlicensed spectrum can be triggered when a per-slice PDUsession exceeds a slice capacity. More specifically, at step 414, UE 302sends an Admission Control request to NS-ACF 312. At step 416, NS-ACF312 determines that the current slice PUD session has exceeded apredefined slice capacity. As follows, at step 418, NS-ACF 312transmits, to AMF 306, an Admission Control Response with a rejection,which would trigger AMF 306 for the migration of the network traffic.For example, at step 420, AMF 306 is triggered to move UE 302 to theunlicensed spectrum. In some examples, a portion of the network trafficof UE 302, if not all, can be migrated to the unlicensed spectrum.

FIG. 4B is a continuous diagram of FIG. 4A. In particular, FIG. 4Billustrates the second example of the trigger (Trigger 2) for themigration of network traffic. At step 422, AMF 306 sends a request toestablish a PDU Session to SMF 332A/UPF 334A, which then sends an SMpolicy to SM-PCF 310 at step 424. At step 426, SM-PCF 210 determinesthat a per-slice-MBR quota would be exceeded if a new PDU session isadmitted. As follows, at step 428, SM-PCF 310 sends a rejection messageto SMF 332A/UPF 334A. Thus, at step 430, SMF 332A is triggered to moveUE to the unlicensed spectrum. In some examples, a portion of thenetwork traffic of UE 302, if not all, can be migrated to the unlicensedspectrum.

FIG. 4C is a continuous diagram of FIG. 4B. In particular, FIG. 4Cillustrates the process of the migration of network traffic activated bytwo different examples of triggers (e.g., Trigger 3 and Trigger 4). Atstep 432, the PDU establishment is accepted between UE 302 and SMF332A/UPF 334A. As a result, at step 434, network traffic associated withUE 302 is directed to SMF 432A/UPF 434A.

At step 436, AMF 306 can be triggered to migrate, to the unlicensedspectrum, a portion of the network traffic associated with UE 302 basedon a predefined schedule (e.g., at 4 pm or any other configurabletime-based trigger or schedule). Further, the schedule can define whichsession/application or an amount of the network data to be migrated tothe unlicensed spectrum.

In some examples, at step 438, SMF 332A/UPF 334A of the licensedspectrum can send a usage report to SM-PCF 310. The usage report caninclude a volume of network data that has been used by UE 302. At step440, SM-PCF 310 can trigger SMF 332A to move UE 302 to the unlicensedspectrum if the UE volume of network data has exceeded a quotathreshold.

As shown in FIGS. 4A-4C, any of Trigger 1, Trigger 2, Trigger 3, orTrigger 4 can cause the Session of UE 302 to move from the licensedspectrum to the unlicensed spectrum at step 442. While four exampletriggers are described with reference to FIGS. 4A-4C, the presentdisclosure is not limited to these four examples and any other triggerfor moving network traffic from a licensed spectrum to an unlicensedspectrum may fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4D is a continuous diagram of FIG. 4C. At step 444, SM-PCF 310 candecide to move UE 302 to the unlicensed spectrum. At step 446, SM-PCF310 sends an SM policy update message, to SMF 332B/UPF 334B of theunlicensed spectrum, regarding the migration of the session to theunlicensed frequency. At step 448, SMF 332B/UPF 334B of the unlicensedspectrum sends an N1/N2 message to AMF 406 regarding the same.

In some examples, at step 452, SM-PCF 310 sends a UE Policy Updatemessage to AMF 306, which then sends a UE configuration update to UE 302(e.g., updated URSP) at step 452. At step 454, UE 302 can start theapplication, which then according to the updated URSP, selects a networkcell operating in a licensed spectrum. At step 456, UE 302 sends a PDUSession Release message (e.g., to reconnect) to SMF 332B/UPF 334B of theunlicensed spectrum. As follows, at step 458, UE 302 connects to thenetwork cell operating in the unlicensed spectrum on F2 radiofrequency.At step 460, a PDU Session Release is established between UE 302 andUE-PCF 308. Further, at step 462, the network traffic of UE 302 istransmitted on the unlicensed spectrum.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example 5G network architecture 500 with thedeployment of a single network slice, according to some aspects of thepresent disclosure. Example 5G network architecture 500 comprises UE 502(can be the same as UE 302), gNodeB 504 (can be the same as gNodeB 304),network slice 506, and Internet 520. Further, network slice 506 can havea plurality of associated network functions such as AMF 508, SMF 510,UPF 512, PCF 514, UDM 516, NRF 518, etc.

In some examples, network slice 506 can operate in both a licensedspectrum (e.g., 1800 MHz) and an unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 2.5 GHz).More specifically, a network operator can have one slice, which operateson both licensed and unlicensed frequencies. As follows, any time thenetwork operator throttles its service, a user device can switch from alicensed spectrum to an unlicensed spectrum based on an RRCreconfiguration. Under this approach, since the network slice does notchange, there is no PDU impact. Further, in some examples, UE 502 canhave an application that must be on a licensed spectrum and anotherapplication that must be on an unlicensed spectrum.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example flow 600 of migrating network traffic froma licensed spectrum to an unlicensed spectrum within the same networkslice, according to some aspects of the present disclosure. Similar toexample 5G network architecture 500 as illustrated in FIG. 5 , networkenvironment for example flow 600 in FIG. 5 comprises UE 502, gNodeB 504,AMF 508, SMF 510, UPF 512, SM-PCF 514, and UDM 516.

According to some examples, gNodeB 504 can be configured to support bothlicensed and unlicensed frequencies (e.g., cell-L on F1 radiofrequencyand cell-UL on F2 radiofrequency) at step 605. At step 610, UE 502connects to cell-L on F1 radiofrequency via gNodeB 504.

At step 615, UE registration is completed between UE 502 and AMF 508. Atstep 620, AMF 508 and UMD 516 confirm the subscription of UE 502 andprocess authentication of UE 502. At step 625, UE 502 sends a PDUrequest (i.e., a request to establish a PDU session) to SMF 510/UPF 512,which then sends an SM policy message to SM-PCF 514 at step 630.

At step 635, network traffic associated with UE 502 is directed to SMF510/UPF 512. At step 640, SMF 510/UPF 512 prepares and sends a usagereport to SM-PCF 514. In some instances, the usage report can include avolume of network data associated with UE 502. At step 645, SMF 510/UPF512 determines that the volume of network data associated with UE 502has exceeded a quota threshold. As follows, at step 650, SM-PCF 514decides to move UE 502 to an unlicensed spectrum (i.e., direct thenetwork traffic associated with UE 502 to the unlicensed spectrum).

At step 655, SM-PCF 514 sends an SM policy update message to SMF 510/UPF512, which indicates the migration of network traffic to the unlicensedspectrum. At step 660, SMF 510/UPF 512 sends an N1/N2 message to AMF 508regarding the same. At step 665, AMF 508 forwards the N2 message togNodeB 504, which then sends an RRC reconfiguration to UE 502 at step670.

At step 675, UE 502, based on the RRC reconfiguration, connects tocell-UL on F2 radiofrequency. As follows, at step 680, network trafficassociated with UE 502 is now directed to the unlicensed spectrum.

While example flow 600 includes the migration of network traffictriggered by the volume of network data exceeding a quota threshold(e.g., Trigger 4 as illustrated with respect to FIG. 3 ), other types oftriggers can be applied.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example flow 700 of reverting network traffic froman unlicensed spectrum to a licensed spectrum, according to some aspectsof the present disclosure. Network environment for example flow 700comprises UE 702 (can be the same as UE 302/502), gNodeB 704 (can be thesame as gNodeB 304/504), AMF 708, SMF 710/UPF 712, SM-PCF 714, and UDM716.

At step 720, gNodeB 704 can be configured to support both licensed andunlicensed frequencies (e.g., cell-L on F1 radio frequency and cell-ULon F2 radiofrequency). At step 725, UE 702 connects to cell-L on F1radio frequency via gNodeB 704.

At step 730, UE registration is completed between UE 702 and AMF 708. Atstep 635, AMF 708 and UMD 716 confirm the subscription of UE 702 andprocess authentication of UE 702. At step 740, UE 702 sends an internetPDU session over the licensed spectrum to SMF 710/UPF 712.

At step 745, based on a preconfigured rule, AMF 708 moves a portion ofor all traffic associated with UE 702 to an unlicensed spectrum (e.g.,based on Trigger 3 as illustrated in FIG. 3 ). While example flow 700includes the migration of the network traffic to the unlicensed spectrumtriggered by a preconfigured rule, other types of triggers can beapplied.

At step 750, AMF 708 sends an N2 message to gNodeB 704 indicating theradiofrequency change. At step 755, gNodeB 704 sends an RRCreconfiguration to UE 702. As follows, UE 702, based on the RRCreconfiguration, connects to cell-UL on F2 radiofrequency via gNodeB 704at step 760. Thus, network traffic associated with UE 602 is nowdirected on the unlicensed spectrum to SMF 710/UPF 712 at step 765.

In some examples, at step 770, based on a preconfigured rule, alltraffic previously moved to the unlicensed spectrum can be moved back toa licensed spectrum. For example, the preconfigured rule can define aschedule for what time the traffic needs to be directed to a licensedspectrum or an unlicensed spectrum. Further, the preconfigured rule candefine which and what portion of the network traffic needs to bemigrated to the unlicensed spectrum or reverted to the licensedspectrum.

At step 775, AMF 708 sends an N2 message indicating the radiofrequencychange (e.g., from F2 radio frequency to F1 radio frequency) to gNodeB704. At step 780, gNodeB 704 can send an RRC reconfiguration regardingthe same to UE 702. As follows, UE 702 connects to cell-L on F1 radiofrequency via gNodeB 704 at step 785. Thus, network traffic associatedwith UE 702 is directed on the licensed spectrum at step 790.

While example flow 700 includes the reverting process, which istriggered by a preconfigured rule, any other types of triggers forreverting network traffic back to the licensed spectrum from theunlicensed spectrum can be used and falls within the scope of thepresent disclosure. can be applied.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flow chart of a network traffic migrationprocess/method 800 for migrating network traffic from a licensedspectrum to an unlicensed spectrum within the same RAT, according tosome aspects of the present disclosure. Although the example method 800depicts a particular sequence of operations, the sequence may be alteredwithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example,some of the operations depicted may be performed in parallel or in adifferent sequence that does not materially affect the function of themethod 700. In other examples, different components of an example deviceor system that implements the method 800 may perform functions atsubstantially the same time or in a specific sequence. The process ofFIG. 8 may be implemented by a network controller. Such networkcontroller can be any one of fog nodes 162 (e.g., routers, controllers,cameras, access points, gateways), gNodeB (RAN) 220, an NF inside corenetwork 230, AMF 306, SMF 332B, etc. It should be noted that suchnetwork controller may have one or more memories havingcomputer-readable instructions stored therein and one or more associatedprocessors configured to execute the computer-readable instructions toperform steps of method 800 as described below.

At step 810, method 800 includes identifying a user device connected toa cellular wireless access technology over a licensed spectrum. Forexample, an enhanced roaming system can identify UE 202 as illustratedin FIG. 2 , which is connected to a cellular wireless access technology(e.g., via RAN 204 as illustrated in FIG. 2 ) over a licensed spectrum(e.g., 2.5 GHz).

At step 820, method 800 includes determining whether a condition forswitching network traffic associated with the user device to anunlicensed spectrum is triggered. The condition can be any one of thetriggers described above with reference to FIGS. 4A-D, a threshold quotadescribed with reference to FIG. 6 , preconfigured triggers such as aschedule for moving traffic from a licensed spectrum to an unlicensedspectrum as described with reference to FIG. 7 , etc. In one instance,method 800 includes receiving, from a network element, a usage reportthat includes a volume of the network traffic of the user device tocompare to the capacity threshold of the licensed spectrum. For example,an enhanced roaming system can receive, from a network element of firstcell 230A (e.g., SMF 232A, UPF 234A, PCF 236A, NRF 238A, etc.), a usagereport that includes a volume of the network traffic of UE 202 tocompare to the capacity threshold of first cell 230A in order todetermine whether the network traffic of UE 202 should be moved to theunlicensed spectrum or not.

If at step 820, the network controller determines that the condition isnot triggered (is not met), the network controller continues to steernetwork traffic associated with the user device (e.g., UE 202) over thelicensed spectrum. However, if at step 820, the network controllerdetermines that the condition for switching network traffic associatedwith the user is triggered, then at step 830, method 800 includesdetermining an unlicensed spectrum to move the network traffic to. Theunlicensed spectrum can be within a same cell as the licensed spectrum(as described with reference to FIGS. 5-7 ) or can be in a differentcell compared to a cell in which the licensed spectrum is (as describedwith reference to FIGS. 3 and 4A-4D).

At step 840, method 800 includes migrating at least a portion of thenetwork traffic of the user device to the unlicensed spectrum in asimilar manner as described above with reference to FIGS. 3-7 . to thesecond cell on the unlicensed spectrum while maintaining networkconnectivity of the user device over the cellular wireless accesstechnology. In one example, such migrating may occur by modifying a UserEquipment Route Selection Policy (URSP) for the user device to migratethe portion of the network traffic to the unlicensed spectrum. Inanother example, such migrating may include transmitting a RadioResource Control (RRC) connection reconfiguration message to the userdevice to migrate the portion of the network traffic to the unlicensedspectrum.

As described above with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7 , network trafficthat is moved to an unlicensed spectrum may be reverted back (migrated)back to the licensed spectrum. Accordingly, at step 850, method 8includes determining whether a condition for reverting network trafficback to the licensed spectrum is triggered (met). If not, the networkcontroller continues to steep the network traffic for the user deviceover the unlicensed spectrum until the condition for reverting back tothe licensed spectrum is met. Once the reverting back condition istriggered, at step 860, the method 800 includes migrating the portion ofthe network traffic that was moved to the unlicensed spectrum at step840, back to the licensed spectrum. In one example, such migrating mayoccur by modifying a User Equipment Route Selection Policy (URSP) forthe user device to migrate the portion of the network traffic back tothe licensed spectrum from the unlicensed spectrum. In another example,such migrating may include transmitting a Radio Resource Control (RRC)connection reconfiguration message to the user device to migrate theportion of the network traffic to the unlicensed spectrum.

With examples of network traffic steering between licensed andunlicensed spectrum within a 3GPP service described above with referenceto FIGS. 1-8 , as alternative methods of throttling, the disclosure nowturns to example systems and components that can be utilized any of thenetwork components described above with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and5 including a network controller that may implement the process of FIG.8 .

FIG. 9 illustrates an example computing system, according to someaspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 9 illustrates an examplecomputing system 900 including components in electrical communicationwith each other using a connection 905 upon which one or more aspects ofthe present disclosure can be implemented. Connection 905 can be aphysical connection via a bus, or a direct connection into processor910, such as in a chipset architecture. Connection 905 can also be avirtual connection, networked connection, or logical connection.

In some embodiments computing system 900 is a distributed system inwhich the functions described in this disclosure can be distributedwithin a datacenter, multiple datacenters, a peer network, etc. In someembodiments, one or more of the described system components representsmany such components each performing some or all of the function forwhich the component is described. In some embodiments, the componentscan be physical or virtual devices.

Example system 900 includes at least one processing unit (CPU orprocessor) 910 and connection 905 that couples various system componentsincluding system memory 915, such as read only memory (ROM) 920 andrandom access memory (RAM) 925 to processor 910. Computing system 900can include a cache of high-speed memory 912 connected directly with, inclose proximity to, or integrated as part of processor 910.

Processor 910 can include any general purpose processor and a hardwareservice or software service, such as services 932, 934, and 936 storedin storage device 930, configured to control processor 910 as well as aspecial-purpose processor where software instructions are incorporatedinto the actual processor design. Processor 910 may essentially be acompletely self-contained computing system, containing multiple cores orprocessors, a bus, memory controller, cache, etc. A multi-core processormay be symmetric or asymmetric.

To enable user interaction, computing system 900 includes an inputdevice 945, which can represent any number of input mechanisms, such asa microphone for speech, a touch-sensitive screen for gesture orgraphical input, keyboard, mouse, motion input, speech, etc. Computingsystem 900 can also include output device 935, which can be one or moreof a number of output mechanisms known to those of skill in the art. Insome instances, multimodal systems can enable a user to provide multipletypes of input/output to communicate with computing system 900.Computing system 900 can include communications interface 940, which cangenerally govern and manage the user input and system output. There isno restriction on operating on any particular hardware arrangement andtherefore the basic features here may easily be substituted for improvedhardware or firmware arrangements as they are developed.

Storage device 930 can be a non-volatile memory device and can be a harddisk or other types of computer readable media which can store data thatare accessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memorycards, solid state memory devices, digital versatile disks, cartridges,random access memories (RAMs), read only memory (ROM), and/or somecombination of these devices.

The storage device 930 can include software services, servers, services,etc., that when the code that defines such software is executed by theprocessor 910, it causes the system to perform a function. In someembodiments, a hardware service that performs a particular function caninclude the software component stored in a computer-readable medium inconnection with the necessary hardware components, such as processor910, connection 905, output device 935, etc., to carry out the function.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a network device, according to someaspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 10 illustrates an examplenetwork device 1000 suitable for performing switching, routing, loadbalancing, and other networking operations. Network device 1000 includesa central processing unit (CPU) 1004, interfaces 1002, and a bus 1010(e.g., a PCI bus). When acting under the control of appropriate softwareor firmware, the CPU 1004 is responsible for executing packetmanagement, error detection, and/or routing functions. The CPU 1004preferably accomplishes all these functions under the control ofsoftware including an operating system and any appropriate applicationssoftware. CPU 1004 may include one or more processors 1008, such as aprocessor from the INTEL X86 family of microprocessors. In some cases,processor 1008 can be specially designed hardware for controlling theoperations of network device 1000. In some cases, a memory 1006 (e.g.,non-volatile RAM, ROM, etc.) also forms part of CPU 1004. However, thereare many different ways in which memory could be coupled to the system.

The interfaces 1002 are typically provided as modular interface cards(sometimes referred to as “line cards”). Generally, they control thesending and receiving of data packets over the network and sometimessupport other peripherals used with the network device 1000. Among theinterfaces that may be provided are Ethernet interfaces, frame relayinterfaces, cable interfaces, DSL interfaces, token ring interfaces, andthe like. In addition, various very high-speed interfaces may beprovided such as fast token ring interfaces, wireless interfaces,Ethernet interfaces, Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, ATM interfaces, HSSIinterfaces, POS interfaces, FDDI interfaces, WIFI interfaces, 3G/4G/5Gcellular interfaces, CAN BUS, LoRA, and the like. Generally, theseinterfaces may include ports appropriate for communication with theappropriate media. In some cases, they may also include an independentprocessor and, in some instances, volatile RAM. The independentprocessors may control such communications intensive tasks as packetswitching, media control, signal processing, crypto processing, andmanagement. By providing separate processors for the communicationsintensive tasks, these interfaces allow the master CPU 1004 toefficiently perform routing computations, network diagnostics, securityfunctions, etc.

Although the system shown in FIG. 10 is one specific network device ofthe present technology, it is by no means the only network devicearchitecture on which the present technology can be implemented. Forexample, an architecture having a single processor that handlescommunications as well as routing computations, etc., is often used.Further, other types of interfaces and media could also be used with thenetwork device 1000.

Regardless of the network device's configuration, it may employ one ormore memories or memory modules (including memory 1006) configured tostore program instructions for the general-purpose network operationsand mechanisms for roaming, route optimization and routing functionsdescribed herein. The program instructions may control the operation ofan operating system and/or one or more applications, for example. Thememory or memories may also be configured to store tables such asmobility binding, registration, and association tables, etc. Memory 1006could also hold various software containers and virtualized executionenvironments and data.

The network device 1000 can also include an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), which can be configured to perform routingand/or switching operations. The ASIC can communicate with othercomponents in the network device 1000 via the bus 1010, to exchange dataand signals and coordinate various types of operations by the networkdevice 1000, such as routing, switching, and/or data storage operations,for example.

For clarity of explanation, in some instances the various embodimentsmay be presented as including individual functional blocks includingfunctional blocks comprising devices, device components, steps orroutines in a method embodied in software, or combinations of hardwareand software.

In some embodiments the computer-readable storage devices, media, andmemories can include a cable or wireless signal containing a bit streamand the like. However, when mentioned, non-transitory computer-readablestorage media expressly exclude media such as energy, carrier signals,electromagnetic waves, and signals per se.

Methods according to the above-described examples can be implementedusing computer-executable instructions that are stored or otherwiseavailable from computer readable media. Such instructions can comprise,for example, instructions and data which cause or otherwise configure ageneral purpose computer, special purpose computer, or special purposeprocessing device to perform a certain function or group of functions.Portions of computer resources used can be accessible over a network.The computer executable instructions may be, for example, binaries,intermediate format instructions such as assembly language, firmware, orsource code. Examples of computer-readable media that may be used tostore instructions, information used, and/or information created duringmethods according to described examples include magnetic or opticaldisks, flash memory, USB devices provided with non-volatile memory,networked storage devices, and so on.

Devices implementing methods according to these disclosures can comprisehardware, firmware and/or software, and can take any of a variety ofform factors. Some examples of such form factors include general purposecomputing devices such as servers, rack mount devices, desktopcomputers, laptop computers, and so on, or general purpose mobilecomputing devices, such as tablet computers, smart phones, personaldigital assistants, wearable devices, and so on. Functionality describedherein also can be embodied in peripherals or add-in cards. Suchfunctionality can also be implemented on a circuit board among differentchips or different processes executing in a single device, by way offurther example.

The instructions, media for conveying such instructions, computingresources for executing them, and other structures for supporting suchcomputing resources are means for providing the functions described inthese disclosures.

Although a variety of examples and other information was used to explainaspects within the scope of the appended claims, no limitation of theclaims should be implied based on particular features or arrangements insuch examples, as one of ordinary skill would be able to use theseexamples to derive a wide variety of implementations. Further andalthough some subject matter may have been described in languagespecific to examples of structural features and/or method steps, it isto be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claimsis not necessarily limited to these described features or acts. Forexample, such functionality can be distributed differently or performedin components other than those identified herein. Rather, the describedfeatures and steps are disclosed as examples of components of systemsand methods within the scope of the appended claims.

Claim language reciting “at least one of” refers to at least one of aset and indicates that one member of the set or multiple members of theset satisfy the claim. For example, claim language reciting “at leastone of A and B” means A, B, or A and B.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: identifying a user deviceconnected to a cellular wireless access technology, over a licensedspectrum; determining whether a condition for switching network trafficassociated with the user device to an unlicensed spectrum is triggered;in response to determining that the condition is triggered, determiningan unlicensed spectrum to move the network traffic to, the unlicensedspectrum being within a same cell as the licensed spectrum or in adifferent cell compared to a cell in which the licensed spectrum is; andmigrating at least a portion of the network traffic to the unlicensedspectrum while maintaining network connectivity of the user device overthe cellular wireless access technology.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the condition is a schedule of routing of network traffic of theuser device between the licensed spectrum and the unlicensed spectrum,and the network traffic is migrated to the unlicensed spectrum accordingto the schedule.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the condition is acapacity threshold of the licensed spectrum, and the network traffic ismigrated to the unlicensed spectrum if the capacity threshold of thelicensed spectrum is reached.
 4. The method of claim 3, furthercomprising: receiving, from a network element, a usage report thatincludes a volume of the network traffic of the user device to compareto the capacity threshold.
 5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:modifying a User Equipment Route Selection Policy (URSP) to migrate theportion of the network traffic to the unlicensed spectrum.
 6. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: determining whether a second conditionfor switching the network traffic back to the licensed spectrum is met;and migrating the portion of the network traffic back to the licensedspectrum from the unlicensed spectrum.
 7. The method of claim 5, furthercomprising: transmitting a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connectionreconfiguration message to the user device to migrate the portion of thenetwork traffic to the unlicensed spectrum.
 8. A network controllercomprising: one or more memories having computer-readable instructionsstored therein; and one or more processors configured to execute thecomputer-readable instructions to: identify a user device connected to acellular wireless access technology, over a licensed spectrum; determinewhether a condition for switching network traffic associated with theuser device to an unlicensed spectrum is triggered; in response todetermining that the condition is triggered, determine an unlicensedspectrum to move the network traffic to, the unlicensed spectrum beingwithin a same cell as the licensed spectrum or in a different cellcompared to a cell in which the licensed spectrum is; and migrate atleast a portion of the network traffic to the unlicensed spectrum whilemaintaining network connectivity of the user device over the cellularwireless access technology.
 9. The network controller of claim 8,wherein the condition is a schedule of routing of network traffic of theuser device between the licensed spectrum and the unlicensed spectrum,and the network traffic is migrated to the unlicensed spectrum accordingto the schedule.
 10. The network controller of claim 8, wherein thecondition is a capacity threshold of the licensed spectrum, and thenetwork traffic is migrated to the unlicensed spectrum if the capacitythreshold of the licensed spectrum is reached.
 11. The networkcontroller of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors areconfigured to execute the computer-readable instructions to receive,from a network element, a usage report that includes a volume of thenetwork traffic of the user device to compare to the capacity threshold.12. The network controller of claim 8, wherein the one or moreprocessors are configured to execute the computer-readable instructionsto modify a User Equipment Route Selection Policy (URSP) to migrate theportion of the network traffic to the unlicensed spectrum.
 13. Thenetwork controller of claim 8, wherein the one or more processors areconfigured to execute the computer-readable instructions to: determinewhether a second condition for switching the network traffic back to thelicensed spectrum is met; and migrate the portion of the network trafficback to the licensed spectrum from the unlicensed spectrum.
 14. Thenetwork controller of claim 8, wherein the one or more processors areconfigured to execute the computer-readable instructions to transmit aRadio Resource Control (RRC) connection reconfiguration message to theuser device to migrate the portion of the network traffic to theunlicensed spectrum.
 15. One or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia comprising computer-readable instructions, which when executed byone or more processors of a network controller, cause the networkcontroller to: identify a user device connected to a cellular wirelessaccess technology, over a licensed spectrum; determine whether acondition for switching network traffic associated with the user deviceto an unlicensed spectrum is triggered; in response to determining thatthe condition is triggered, determine an unlicensed spectrum to move thenetwork traffic to, the unlicensed spectrum being within a same cell asthe licensed spectrum or in a different cell compared to a cell in whichthe licensed spectrum is; and migrate at least a portion of the networktraffic to the unlicensed spectrum while maintaining networkconnectivity of the user device over the cellular wireless accesstechnology.
 16. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable mediaof claim 15, wherein the condition is a schedule of routing of networktraffic of the user device between the licensed spectrum and theunlicensed spectrum, and the network traffic is migrated to theunlicensed spectrum according to the schedule
 17. The one or morenon-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15, wherein thecondition is a capacity threshold of the licensed spectrum, and thenetwork traffic is migrated to the unlicensed spectrum if the capacitythreshold of the licensed spectrum is reached.
 18. The one or morenon-transitory computer-readable media of claim 17, wherein theexecution of the computer-readable instructions by the one or moreprocessors, further cause the network controller to receive, from anetwork element, a usage report that includes a volume of the networktraffic of the user device to compare to the capacity threshold.
 19. Theone or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15, whereinthe execution of the computer-readable instructions by the one or moreprocessors, further cause the network controller to modify a UserEquipment Route Selection Policy (URSP) to migrate the portion of thenetwork traffic to the unlicensed spectrum.
 20. The one or morenon-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15, wherein theexecution of the computer-readable instructions by the one or moreprocessors, further cause the network controller to: determine whether asecond condition for switching the network traffic back to the licensedspectrum is met; and migrate the portion of the network traffic back tothe licensed spectrum from the unlicensed spectrum.